Davis calls for more Afghan troops

A senior Conservative backbencher has called for Britain to deploy "all the soldiers we can" to Afghanistan for a make-or-break push to regain the military initiative within the next 18 months.

If there is not "serious progress" in Afghanistan by the time of the US mid-term Congressional elections in November 2010, the public in both Britain and America will demand withdrawal, said former shadow home secretary David Davis.

His comments came as party leader David Cameron said that there seemed to be "no end in sight" for the Afghan conflict and warned: "It's clear we cannot go on as we are."

Mr Davis, a former soldier in the Territorial SAS, said that the impending US elections imposed a "timetable for decision" on the international community, which should respond with "a huge step up in military activity and effectiveness".

Accusing the Government of "trying to fight this war on the cheap", he called for an acceleration of the deployment of equipment and troops to Helmand and a "truly massive" increase to more than 600,000 in the number of soldiers being trained for the Afghan army.

In an article on the Conservativehome blog, Mr Davis wrote: "We should understand that the next 18 months are make-or-break for our efforts in Afghanistan.

"If we do not make serious progress in that time, then it will be American elections that decide the future, not Afghan ones. If we make no progress, then the American public and the British public will both demand withdrawal - and many brave young soldiers will have lost their lives to no avail."

He warned: "There is a limited ration of time in which we have to recover the initiative in the Afghan war."